"What the...? How could it be this fast?"
Just two more seconds and Roy could've picked the lock.
Should he just force it open and go in?
It felt kind of pointless, and it'd probably just attract the cops. It'd be better to come back later tonight when nobody's around and try to pick the lock then.
Once he figured that out, Roy immediately put away the wire and moved with Sultana.
Since they weren't too familiar with the layout of the meat processing plant, the two of them ended up in an unfamiliar hallway.
Walking towards them was a man with a blank expression and a face full of hard muscle.
"Mahogany!"
That guy actually works here!
Roy was becoming more and more convinced that something was wrong with this meat processing plant!
Mahogany, walking towards them, felt like Roy looked vaguely familiar, but since he was wearing a full set of work clothes, he didn't recognize him.
Roy nudged Sultana with his elbow, and she immediately caught on.
"Excuse me, sir! We're new here, and we can't find the locker room!"
Mahogany had his tongue cut out, so he couldn't speak, but he still pointed them in the direction of the locker room.
"Thank you, sir!"
Sultana pulled Roy along, and after Mahogany took a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and immediately started chasing after them towards the locker room.
Too bad for him, Roy and Sultana didn't stop in the locker room. Since it was close to the exit, they just went straight through it and left the meat processing plant.
After a quick run, the two of them got back into the Chevrolet Camaro. They drove the car away from the vicinity of the meat processing plant before taking off their work clothes.
"Whew! Roy, why didn't you say anything just now?"
"That guy just now, he's the butcher I saw on the subway!"
Sultana was shocked.
"He's the butcher? It's only been a few days, how is he already healed up?"
Sultana knew Roy's fighting ability. If an ordinary person took a beating from Roy, they'd be laid up for at least a few weeks.
"I don't think he's a normal human anymore!"
Roy still remembered the disgusting fleshy lumps and the mark of Beelzebub he saw on the butcher Mahogany that night.
This guy might not have completely turned into a demon like Kevin, but he wasn't far off.
"Alright, well at least this proves that there's definitely something wrong with this meat processing plant!"
As long as there's suspicion, the FEA can take action, but it's best to investigate further to avoid a repeat of what happened at the mental hospital last time.
Sultana's career couldn't handle another failure.
"Let's still investigate a bit more, but Sultana, you can report to Gerald first and give him a heads-up."
Sultana nodded.
"I will! Roy, are we going to do this again tonight?"
Investigating Joseph's Meat Processing Plant continuously might cause some problems. After all, their actions just now might have already tipped someone off.
But Roy didn't care about those problems; the main thing was Sultana.
"Sultana, if it doesn't affect you, I can go again."
Sultana thought for a moment, feeling that since she had just been reinstated, it was better to play it safe.
"I'll report to Gerald first and see what he says. I'll let you know then."
Sultana made a gesture like she was making a phone call.
"Should I take you back to the hotel?"
"No, just take me straight to the Dolphin Hotel."
Time flew by, and it was soon night. There were even more spectators tonight than yesterday, probably because the Santa Monica Cup's reputation had really taken off.
But the Santa Monica Cup was indeed intense, with back-to-back matches.
You know, even professional boxers don't fight like that, especially those championship-level boxers. They might only fight a few title defenses a year to keep their belts, and the rest of the time they can do whatever they want.
Then, they rake in hundreds of millions a year.
But professional boxers still have to keep training; that's part of their job.
However, compared to those NBA players who have to play 82 games a year and fly all over America, they definitely have a much more leisurely life.
That's why Roy chose this path.
"Mr. Black, I've already asked around. Your opponent tonight is a USC student. He's really good, so you need to be careful!"
Since he was acting as Roy's temporary coach, Allen had done his homework and found out who Roy's opponent was tonight.
Hmm, this work was better than nothing. Maybe if the opponent wasn't from USC, Allen wouldn't have even bothered to check.
"I got it, Mr. Berger. I'll definitely teach him a good lesson."
Roy was a bit absent-minded; he was still thinking about the meat processing plant and Mahogany.
It wasn't until the referee started calling his name that Roy snapped back to reality.
"Next up in the preliminary rounds: Roy Black and Blair Perez!"
Roy received a considerable cheer as he stepped onto the ring. More and more people were calling him the Grim Reaper now.
After all, just last night some poor guy had his teeth knocked out by Roy and was already on a liquid diet.
Looking around the ring, Roy waved to Heather, Penny, Sultana, and Mary, who were there to watch the match.
Roy was also surprised to see Gerald standing next to Sultana.
Did the director of the FEA's Los Angeles branch really have time to watch an amateur boxing match like this?
Turning back around, Roy glanced at his opponent for today.
Still a black guy. There was a significant black population in Los Angeles due to historical reasons.
And the sports industry had always been a place where black people had an advantage. Black students who could get into college were mostly on sports scholarships.
"I heard you're a USC student?"
This well-built black guy was at least six and a half feet tall with a very long reach, like a gorilla.
"How do you know that?"
"Someone from UCLA told me."
As soon as he heard the word "UCLA," the black guy's expression turned a bit sour. He probably already guessed what Roy was going to say next.
"He told me to teach you a good lesson. Are you ready to get your butt kicked?"
The referee looked at Roy with a bit of a speechless expression. He was also the referee for Roy and Evans Dean's fight yesterday.
Yesterday, Roy's taunts made Evans Dean lose his cool, and today Roy was starting to taunt again.
However, although this Blair Perez was black, he was clearly much calmer than Evans Dean. He just looked a little darker in the face at Roy's taunts.
It was nighttime, so no one could really see the change.
Roy felt a bit bored. If he couldn't provoke his opponent, how was he supposed to put on a show?
He was just about to say a few more taunting words, but the referee, perhaps not wanting to see Roy taunt his opponent again, quickly finished explaining the rules and prohibitions and directly announced the start of the match.
Blair was very cautious and didn't attack immediately. Relying on his better physical stats than Roy, he took a step back and started observing.
Even though Roy stood there with his hands on his hips, Blair didn't attack.
This kind of opponent was really boring. The audience immediately started booing Blair. They wanted to see the kind of amazing dodging performance Roy put on last night again.
Blair was just a college student after all, and his mentality was a bit lacking. After being booed by the audience, he immediately got a little flustered and tentatively launched an attack on Roy.
With his super long reach, Blair could hit Roy while ensuring he wouldn't get hit himself.
Of course, this tentative attack naturally didn't hit Roy, which made Blair even more cautious.
The scene was quite awkward for a while!
Just as the referee was about to call it a passive match, Roy suddenly spoke up.
"Is this all the guts a USC student has?"
This was like kicking a hornet's nest, because Roy's voice was particularly loud, and many people in the audience heard him.
After all, only a few people could get into USC. Roy's area-of-effect attack didn't hit too many people, but it got the hecklers in the audience riled up.
Now Blair couldn't afford to be conservative anymore. If word of this got out, he wouldn't be able to show his face at USC.
So, Blair suddenly took a quick step towards Roy and then, keeping a good distance, threw a combination of punches.
This combination of punches naturally still didn't hit Roy.
But Roy was too lazy to keep dodging. If he kept dodging, the first round would be over.
If he had to go to the second round for a preliminary match, what would happen to Roy's cool image?
Continuous V-shaped feints and rushes!
Since his reach wasn't as long as his opponent's, he had to get as close as possible.
A left hook dispersed one of Blair's hands. This guy was indeed good at defense, and his guard was quite solid.
But then Roy's right straight punch increased in power, hitting Blair's defending fist directly and causing him to hit himself in the cheek with his own fist.
With a crack, a crisp sound came from Blair's wrist, and at the same time, he was knocked down by his own punch.
The referee immediately stopped the match and arranged for the doctor to check Blair's wrist.
The result was as expected: Blair's wrist was fractured.
There was no need for a count; the referee directly announced Roy's TKO victory.
Under the ring, the audience once again chanted Roy's nickname, the Grim Reaper. Although tonight's match wasn't as flashy as yesterday's, it was violent enough.
After all, it was relatively rare for a boxer to get their hand fractured.
Allen was very satisfied with Roy's performance.
"Nice work, Mr. Black. I think the UCLA board of trustees will definitely hear about your performance tonight. Now go enjoy the fruits of your victory!"
After saying that, Allen left.
And Heather and Penny had already rushed over and jumped onto Roy.
Roy easily lifted the two girls with his arms, showing off his powerful strength, which made the audience even more excited.
Not far away, Mary looked at Heather and Penny with a hint of envy on her face.
Although she didn't want to admit it, Mary felt herself becoming more and more attracted to Roy.
She even dreamed about Roy at night.
This situation made the rather conservative Mary very shy, and she hadn't dared to say hello to Roy for the past two days.
Roy carried Heather and Penny out of the competition venue, ready to go back to the hotel and enjoy his victory.
However, the buzzkill arrived at this moment.
"Mr. Black, can we have a word?"
Gerald, leading a blank-faced Sultana, walked over and interrupted Roy's celebration.
Roy glanced at Sultana, then at Gerald, and finally nodded.
"Sure! You two go back to the hotel and get yourselves cleaned up and wait for me! I'll be back soon!"
*Clap clap!*
Two crisp sounds, the sound of Roy slapping Heather and Penny's taillights.
"Mr. Black, let's talk in my office."
The venue for the Santa Monica Cup wasn't too far from the Dolphin Hotel, about a five-minute walk.
Entering the office, Gerald once again took out the bottle of whiskey that wasn't finished yet.
"Mr. Black, would you like a drink?"
"Nah, I'll pass. There might be something important to do tonight."
Hearing this, Gerald put down the whiskey and the glass.
"You're right! Let's wait until the matter is resolved before we have this drink."
The three of them sat down, and Gerald got down to business.
"Sultana has already told me the details about the subway incident. I'm quite pleased that you were able to find out so much in a single day."
Roy's expression became a bit strange. Gerald's tone was really like a leader giving a speech, but the problem was, he wasn't an FEA agent!
"Mr. Orlin, please make it quick, I have important things to do!"
Sultana gave Roy a look, but didn't say anything, letting him figure it out himself.
"Ahem! You're right, Mr. Black, I should indeed make it quick! The subway incident involves a wide range of people, and a direct investigation might alert those behind it. So, to prevent the situation from worsening, I've decided to temporarily halt the investigation into this incident and continue it after things have been coordinated with higher-ups."
Roy raised an eyebrow, not expecting Gerald to make this choice.
But there was nothing to be done about it. The more they investigated the Midnight Cannibal Train incident, the more they realized how deep the water was behind it.
It was the kind of situation where pulling out one radish would bring out a towering tree. Gerald definitely wasn't willing to bet his career on it; it wasn't worth it!
However, judging from Gerald's expression, it seemed like he had made some other discovery, which was why he was suspending the investigation.
"Mr. Orlin, have you discovered something?"
Gerald looked at Sultana. It seemed it wasn't Gerald who had made a new discovery, but Sultana.
"At dusk, I paid a visit to Athena Dimitrescu and obtained this from her."
Sultana placed a brass ring on the desk. The brass ring had a circular symbol on it, which was the mark of Beelzebub that Roy had seen on Mahogany before.
"Rings and necklaces with this kind of pattern are widely found within the Los Angeles Police Department. If we continue to investigate, it might provoke a backlash from the LAPD."
You know, there were nearly ten thousand police officers in Los Angeles. If these police officers were all infiltrated by demons, it could cause major chaos.
Whether it was the FEA or other federal departments, their purpose was still to maintain federal stability. Gerald naturally wouldn't dare to mess around; he really couldn't take the blame for that.
"Alright then, I don't care anyway, as long as Sultana is okay with it."
Gerald breathed a slight sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face.
"Oh, that's right, Mr. Black, there's some good news. Your intelligence fee has been approved. The total amount is two hundred thousand dollars!"
That much?
Roy immediately realized that such a large sum of money must also include hush money.
"Ha, Mr. Orlin, it's been a pleasure working with you!"